Maple Crème Brûlée

Who says crème brûlée should be made with plain old sugar? Maple syrup adds that little something extra to this wholesome dish that literally only has five ingredients – cream, milk, eggs, maple sugar and maple syrup.

People are always impressed when you serve up crème brûlée as a dessert at a special meal but the truth is (shh, don’t tell anyone), crème brûlée is actually super easy to make. So next time you have friends over, or a family dinner where you want to impress, use this recipe to wow everyone, especially once they taste the maple in it!

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream (35%) (can substitute for 1 3/4 cups heavy cream and 1/4 cup milk to reduce fat)

1 whole egg

3 egg yolks (discard the whites)

1/2 cup Sweet Ontario maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup maple sugar (can substitute for brown sugar)

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

In saucepan over medium heat, heat whipping cream and maple syrup until steaming. In separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, whole egg and egg yolks until combined. Whisk 1/2 cup of the cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly so the eggs aren’t cooked. Once combined, add the remaining cream mixture and stir.

Divide among six custard ramekins and set in a pan with sides that come up equal to the ramekin top. Add enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Place in oven and bake for approximately 45 minutes until set. Edges should be firm but the centre should be able to move slightly when jiggled. A knife inserted into the custard will come out with a little bit of creamy custard on it.

Remove from water and allow to cool completely. At this point the custards can be covered and refrigerated for 24 hours if necessary.

Before serving, place ramekins on a baking sheet and sprinkle maple sugar evenly over the top. Broil until the sugar melts and bubbles, watching constantly to ensure it doesn’t burn. This should take less than a minute. Allow to cool.

Enjoy!